Is Facebook a social network for narcissists? [Infographic]

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Log into Facebook and what do you see? Your cousin squealing about her promotion, or posting photos of her kid who has (finally) learnt how to walk. You scroll down to see your friend from school, who has just changed his relationship status to “engaged” and is subsequently tagged in 50 perfectly-Photoshopped photos in his fiancé’s “Our Engagement <3" album. You continue to scroll, only to find out that some acquaintance has just had breakfast and another is complaining about the traffic. Has your life changed forever? No. Are you better off than before? Not really. Will you be back on Facebook later today to do it all over again? Probably. Yes, it's an easy way to stalk keep up to date with your friends and family and share what’s happening in your life. And it’s great that your friends are getting married / have kids that can walk / eat breakfast. But the type of selective sharing that goes on on Facebook can have negative emotional consequences. According to recent studies, the more active a user is on Facebook, the more likely they are to be unhappy and discontent with their lives (especially if they’re female). Facebook users have admitted that they compare themselves to photos of their friends on the social network, and its Timeline feature actually made it easier to go back and see how they’ve changed physically over time. Some even said that they think they feel less satisfied with their lives after scrolling through their news feed.

Why? Well, Facebook encourages you to share everything from a text-based status to your location… and people are using it to share the best version of themselves. According to yet another study, Facebook actually encourages narcissism. Particularly, people who amassed had huge numbers of friends are more likely to be the attention-seeking sort who is obsessed with their online image. Wondering if you’re addicted to Facebook or just talking about yourself? Maybe this infographic will make you think.

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